Book of Mormon: Day 259
Today’s Reading: Helaman 16:13-25
14 And angels did appear unto wise [wo]men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy; thus in this year the scriptures began to be fulfilled.
As a teenager, I remember watching Susan Sarandon play the role of Marmee in the movie, Little Women. Marmee became synonymous with everything I wanted to be as a woman and mother. Her strong-will, resilience, and words that dripped with insight and wisdom guided the March sisters through the tumultuous times of the Civil War. If I were an angel, I would head straight for wise women like Marmee to tell them the wonderful news of Christ’s upcoming birth. I want to become like the wise women the angels will tell of his second coming. I want to be the kind of woman that the Lord calls on to fulfill the prophecies in his scripture.
I have known wise women throughout my life and they all seem to have learned wisdom the way Christ did, as the Welsh Triad suggests: by seeing much, suffering much, and studying much.
By seeing much. I don’t think that entirely means more of the landscape of the world, or more states in the union to display on their bumper sticker map. Instead, I imagine it has more to do with how their eyes are not shrouded with the distracting cares and concerns everyone must filter through. They seem to see more, to see bigger, to see more completely into the souls of friends and strangers. The women of wisdom I know have Christlike eyes purified from adopting a grander perspective.
By suffering much. I think of the comment a dear friend made to me while we pondered our shared experience of grieving the death of a child. She said, “I used to say how sorry I was when loved ones went through hard things. I don’t anymore. The gift of coming to know God through suffering far outweighs the price.” Even though suffering is rarely a path wise women choose or seek, they don’t leap frog it either. They don’t leap frog past formal education or marriage and children for the sake of avoiding the inconvenience. The wise women I know have Christlike souls purified through suffering.
By studying much. I have noticed the wise women I know take time to study because they know the time will never be given to them. I once heard the Mormon scholar, John Welch, explain how he made so many intellectual contributions in his career. He said something like, “I read a lot about a lot and then rely on the spirit to connect it all.” Wise women welcome truth wherever it is found and then seek the companionship of the spirit through personal worship to try to connect it all and then apply it to those they have stewardship over. The wise women I know have Christlike minds purified through study.
One day I believe the angels might make their rounds, announcing the second coming of the Savior. If they do, they will be looking for “wise [wo]men” to “declare unto them glad tidings of great joy.” [i] Whether or not He counts me as one of the wise women who wait for Him really depends. Am I trying to see the way He sees? Am I willing to suffer, to be able to understand in some small way how He suffered? Am I taking time to study, the way He studies? When He appears, will I be on the path to wisdom? Because the path to wisdom is really the path to Him appearing.
I was born and raised in Alberta, Canada and California and promised every childhood friend I would never raise my family in Utah…until I fell in love with the most amazing fourth generation Orem boy. Now we are raising our kids in the house he grew up in and we love it. I am an estate planning attorney and marriage educator but I really want to be better at those half-baked talents like speaking Spanish, playing the piano, and making dinner every night! Read more about me at mormon.org
Ooooh Klea! This gave me goosebumps. What a day that will be. I hope I will be living such a life to be counted among these wise women the Angels visit at the second coming.
Me too! Anna received that promise, I know we can too.